Push to ban Internet cafés riles those who play

Saturday

Mar 16, 2013 at 5:13 PMApr 4, 2013 at 5:09 PM

To regular players, it's not easy to distinguish between the games they enjoy playing in strip malls and other places near their homes and those at the Indian casinos, pari-mutuels and poker rooms approved by the state.

FRANK FERNANDEZSTAFF WRITER

Inside the arcade at the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 84 in Holly Hill, Eileen Fetzke sat at a row of computer screens flashing with spinning images of letters, lady bugs, eagles and ducks. The 62-year-old Ormond Beach resident watched as a pair of ducks dressed in Irish green spun on the screen of the "Ducky Shamrock" game at the Internet café at the chapter. She liked the odds on the game, but she didn't like them in Tallahassee, where legislators are talking of banning Internet cafes. "I hope not. I hope not because. . ." Fetzke said, as she was interrupted by quacking from the machine. "Oh, we got the bonus, finally. But I hope not, because this (café) is legit. It goes to the veterans, you know. As long as it can be proven that the money or proceeds of the profit go to the veterans then leave it alone." That was a big part of the problem for state and federal authorities in a massive bust last week of Internet cafes operated by St. Augustine-based Allied Veterans of the World. Investigators said less than 2 percent of Allied's $300 million in proceeds over five years actually went to charity. Law enforcement officers last week raided and closed Allied-run Internet cafés in Florida and several other states. Locally, six cafes were raided and closed — five in Volusia and one in Flagler — along with an office/warehouse in Port Orange. The raids were accompanied by criminal charges against 57 people, including 11 locally. Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, who was a consultant to Allied Veterans in 2009-10, resigned on Tuesday. She was questioned in the probe but has not been charged. Allied Veterans had about 50 locations, but by some estimates there are 1,000 similar storefronts across Florida. At least 18 Internet cafes that are not affiliated with Allied Veterans operate in Volusia and Flagler counties, a search of occupational licenses from local governments shows. The sweep triggered immediate calls from Florida lawmakers to ban Internet cafes. Republican State Sen. Dorothy Hukill of Port Orange said the cafes are a form of gambling outlawed in the state. A House committee signed off on a ban Friday by a 15-1 vote, with the lone dissenter calling it a "knee-jerk reaction" to the week's news. "It's not a knee-jerk (reaction) for me," said John Thrasher, who is sponsoring the Senate version of the ban that will be heard in committee Monday. "I've been trying to get the Senate to look at this for four years." At the start of the legislative session this month, Thrasher was pushing a moratorium against new cafes. After this week's arrests, he hopes the revised bill will give law enforcement agencies the tools to ban illegal gaming operations more easily. "We've been working with the sheriff's offices in developing the language," said Thrasher, a St. Augustine Republican whose district includes Flagler and northeast Volusia County. "I'm hoping what we're doing will close them down." That's what Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson has been pushing for the past few years. The charity claims Allied made to customers particularly irked him."All that was a sham to make it look like they were a legitimate business," Johnson said. But to regular players, it's not easy to distinguish between the games they enjoy playing in strip malls and other places near their homes and those at the Indian casinos, pari-mutuels and poker rooms approved by the state. "If that's the case and it's banned throughout the state then they should ban Tampa," Fetzke said, referring to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. That was also the sentiment from Ronnie Holmes, who manages the DAV arcade in Holly Hill. "Why don't they close down the dog track and all those type of activities?" said Holmes, of Ormond-by-the-Sea. "Why don't they close down the poker room out there? That's gambling." What about people who just get on their computer at home and gamble, she said, will the Legislature ban that? Internet cafe operators and managers liken their establishments to sweepstakes such as McDonald's Monopoly game where there is a set number of winners. The cafes ostensibly sell Internet time but what most customers are there for is to play the slot-style games rather than surf the Web. The word gambling and its derivatives are frowned upon in such establishments. When a reporter visited The Sands Internet Café at 1550 Nova Road last week and asked to "cash out," he was corrected and told, "You want to redeem out?" The DAV Chapter 84 gets 10 percent of the gross revenue from the Internet cafe and another 2 percent goes to the national chapter of the DAV, said Holmes, whose 71-year-old husband, Gary, is a member of the chapter.Bingo is not what it used to be and without the money from the Internet café, the chapter could not survive, she said. The chapter's Internet café is operated by Fraternal Management Group of Florida, a limited liability company whose managers are listed in Excelsior, Minn. They could not be reached. "It would just be devastating," Holmes said of losing the money from the Internet café. She said business was already down at the café because of competition from REOS, which was one of the Allied Veterans cafés raided and closed. But unlike Allied Veterans, she said the Internet café at the DAV 84 really helps veterans. And it has real winners. Not long ago three people each won $9,140 from the community wheel, a prize that's not tied to any single machine. No one is dragged inside to play, she said. "Some people come in and lose big but that's their prerogative, but by the same token, two days later they will come in and win big," Holmes said. She said one man spent $400 on Wednesday but won $1,000 on Thursday. Ginny Costello, 66, of Daytona Beach, was playing there on Friday. She said she's disconcerted by lawmakers' talk about banning the Internet cafes. She said she would not like to see the DAV arcade close. "That just frustrates me, because I know the money is going for a good cause," Costello said. She likes spending time in the friendly surroundings and enjoying free snacks and soda. On Saturday night they serve up pizza or pasta. "The people and the atmosphere is good and I know where the money is going," Costello said. "It's a good donation as far as I'm concerned." Gracie Davis, 63, of Holly Hill, said she hopes the place stays open. She has been playing at the DAV café for six or seven months. "It's like going to a friend's house and you can play the games and make money at the same time," she said. "It's good for me to get away from everything else and shut if off." Lee Brown, 82, of Holly Hill, said her husband Gil is the adjutant of DAV Chapter 84, which uses some of the money to buy things like vans to transport veterans to VA hospitals. The money also goes toward visiting veterans in a nursing home in Orlando and buying supplies. Brown likes to play "Eagle Splendor" with a screen spinning with symbols of eagles, Uncle Sam, and the torch from the Statue of Liberty. "My husband don't know how much money I lose but I always tell him when I win," Brown said and laughed. And her husband tells her not to go to any other center. "If you have to lose the money, lose it here," she said he tells her. No owners or managers at several other Internet cafes in Volusia and Flagler responded to requests for interviews from the News-Journal. Outside the U Lucky Dog off North Atlantic Avenue in Daytona Beach, John Sanginario, 65, was taking a smoke break. He said he has been gambling since he was 21. The names of big-time casinos, like the Aladdin, are painted on the walls of the U Lucky Dog. If the Internet cafes are shut down, he said, he would probably take his business offshore to gambling boats. But he'd like to see the cafes keep brewing up some Las Vegas-like action. "I would, because I'm a gambler," he said. Across town at the Pink Flamingo Internet Services off International Speedway Boulevard, a couple of dozen people sit pressing buttons and watching screens. Sunceray Williams, 22, of Daytona Beach, was just arriving. She said she enjoys playing the games and that closing Allied Veterans cafes put people out of work. Williams said people should have a say on whether the Legislature closes Internet cafes. "If they want to shut down different places, then people, they should have a vote on it, " Williams said.